Chapter 39: Arianna and Phineas

BAM...! As the fool I am, after re-watching Tangled Before Ever After, I discovered that the maid I have named Violet is actually named Ethel. *Blushes embarrassingly* But I have decided that I simply don't give a thing about it. I have already proclaimed that my Karen, whom we have learned now is named Faith long after I named her, is gonna remain as Karen in this little fic. Also might need another maid named Jane since Rapunzel mistook Ethel for that name. Not sure where to put her, but then again, in a castle you can never have too many maids.

And warnings to Mother-Arianna fans! I know how people prefer Fred to be the bad guy and Arianna to be the motherly protection, but... Just so you know, this story has only begun. Be patient, and maybe... I have a plan, and I'm pretty sure you'll forgive me once I get there.

Now, to those who are interested in the medical details I've added in this story, here are some more. I think you'll find it interesting.

In the royal bedroom, Arianna sat by the bed in her night gown and morning robe. She had released her hair from the braid, and locks of brown hair were hanging loosely down her back. She looked pale and exhausted, her eyes were surrounded by black circles, and the white were slightly reddish, contrasting sharply towards her green iris. It didn't help either that the royal physician held her tongue between his fingers, reading it like it was a piece of paper with her diagnose written on it.

But that's what the tongue were to the foreign wise man. By looking at her tongue, he could read the body like an open book, and that's what he was doing now. The slightest detail would give you away to his trained narrow eyes, and he seemed to have a cure for everything.

Even though Arianna deep down knew what the matter was, she had yet to figure out how she should deal with it. But that was why he was here now. And hopefully he would manage to help her through it.

At last, after looking at her tongue for a while, scraping a bit of it and looked at it again, he let go of it and looked at the fragments he had been scraping off. Arianna moisturized her mouth and looked at him.

"Well?"

"Your Majesty's tongue has spoken." he said with a small smile.

She sighed heavily, letting her forehead rest on her hand. "Phineas, I am not at all in the mood for jokes."

"I was not joking, Your Majesty. On the contrary, I already see what I need do know. And I have smelled is as well."

"Smelled it?" she replied, a little shocked.

"May I be so bold and ask if I may..." he laid his fingers gently on the crossing of her wine red morning robe.

Arianna couldn't help but give a blush, but not for what he asked for. More than once the foreign physician had been looking at her body for physical testing, and he had of course been present when she gave birth to Rapunzel. But never the less, her hands were quivering when she pulled aside her robe and opened the buttons on her powder pink night gown to confirm what he suspected. On her chest were red spots in a complex pattern, all the way up to her neck.

"Like I suspected."

Arianna blinked. "Mind if I ask, I know you are clever, but how did you..."

"Your Majesty uses powder on her skin, right? Her Majesty's powder is slightly perfumed, and I could smell more of it than normal, even after a night. In other words, Your Majesty has been using more of it to cover this rash up."

"And this means for my condition...?"

"Stress, worry, fear... Things that results in tense shoulders and rash, difficult sleeping and bad dreams... The regularly nightmares, Your Majesty... Are they by any chance repeating itself?"

"Not always, but there is... It's always... There is one thing actually that keeps repeating." She looked down in her lap.

Phineas looked at her with questioning, but friendly eyes. "And this is..."

Arianna grabbed a hold on her morning robe in her lap and curled it up between her tense hands. "I am... always... captivated, and..." she intended to draw her breath, but it ended up as a gasp. "He's... always there!"

He looked at her with understanding in his almond eyes. "I know there were things going on while I was away. And I know it involved a certain person. Namely the young boy I treated yesterday."

Arianna scoffed, closing her robe around her as to shield herself and looked away.

"Your Majesty don't have to explain. I have learned what I need to know. And I realized yesterday that the idea of having him in the sick room instead of the dungeons were not at all under... everybody's preference."

"Well, you do understand why?" she replied, trying not to sound too desperate.

"Of course I do, but Your Majesty is already aware of the two reasons why he MUST remain where he is?"

She straightened up and tried to breath calmly while she spoke. "I know it sounds silly. I know he needed treatment, and I know he's just a child, but... The thought of having him so close... Don't get me wrong. I know you have never been wrong, I know that far too well. Hadn't it been for you, I might have been gone in my labors before the guards brought back the healing flower for me."

"A traumatic night, indeed. And now, yet a traumatic happening has stricken. Even though Your Majesty is physically well after the kidnapping and... attempt of being crushed to death..."

"Don't remind me!" She wrapped herself up in a ball on the bed, feeling her heart beat faster at sudden as she was breathing faster. In her deep mind, she knew how childish and silly she must Have appeared, but right now she didn't bother.

"Forgive me, but sometimes it's impossible to treat a wound without touching it. At times one even needs a good scrub to get it properly cleaned. Because it's no doubt Your Majesty is still haunted by these happenings. That is what nightmares are; complex and twisted memories that comes back and ponder deep down in our minds when we sleep, somehow trying to solve out the actual problem."

"But isn't there anything you can do, Phineas?" She lifted her head and gave him huge, appealing eyes. "I can't go on like this much longer. I haven't had a proper night's sleep in over a month, and even though there hasn't been any huge events yet where this could be a problem. Something has to be done! All your assistants has been doing is to give me something to sleep on, but that only made the nightmares worse."

"Hm... That explains why I was almost out of poppy seeds." he mumbled.

"I'm so tired of this, Phineas. I can't assist my husband like this, I can't perform my own duties as Queen, and not to mention now I have gotten horrid niece of mine..." she hurried to cover her mouth. "Oh, I shouldn't say that about Annabelle, but she was so difficult and stubborn and..." she let a frustrated moan escape. "I can't attend to a grown, spoiled woman about to enter marriage now of all times. I'm afraid I won't be able to hold my tongue, and then it was Daniel..." her voice broke, and she drew her breath. "I...I can't take it anymore! I don't know what to do! I..." A sob escaped her throat, and she covered her mouth again for a moment. "I don't even dare... to let my own husband hold around me anymore..."

Her dam broke, and she hid her face in her hands and cried, letting her head sink. After a minute of sobbing into her own lap, she felt a the physician put a hand on her left shoulder.

"Your Majesty, the good news is, I believe I know what it will take to end these troubles."

Hearing these words, the Queen wiped her face with the sleeves of her robe, sniffed and looked up with wet eyes. "Y-you do?"

"Young Varian who is the cause of Your Majesty's troubles. It doesn't even take allot to end them. Sometimes, the smallest things can have the greatest effect. Although for Your Majesty, it might seem bigger than it is."

"Oh?"

"The only way to solve these troubles, is simply to face them, tightly at the core."

Arianna froze. "But that means..."

"Under ordinary circumstances, I would have recommended to simply confront him with his actions towards you. Alas... there we have the bad news."

"And that is..." her hope sank.

"He still doesn't remember."

"You mean... he really has forgotten it all?" she blinked, feeling how her face felt long at sudden.

"For all he knows, he is a guest here at the Castle, and until he shows other signs of good reaction to a forced recall, we simply cannot confront him with the truth. His young, sensitive mind can't take it."

"So you mean, we get nowhere with this?" she sank down on the bed, about to lose her hope.

"Not necessary, Your Majesty. Now we have the cause of the problem. Now all we have to do is confront it."

"But how can I do that if I cannot tell him the truth?" she said, looking up at the ceiling.

"I didn't say we had to tell him anything. I believe it would be enough to just... be near him."

Arianna went all stiff, rising halfway up and staring at him with huge eyes. "You don't mean..."

"Just try... staying for a moment in the same room as him. Like I said; the smallest things can have the greatest effects."

"But I have done that! In the garden yesterday when we..."

"Had that ridiculous picnic?" Phineas couldn't help but laugh at the detail. "Yes, but then he was different. Right now, he doesn't possess any threat, so now might be a good time to do it?"

Arianna lowered her gaze and looked down on the blanket she was curling up in her hands. "I... I don't know..."

"I advice your Majesty this; Think about it. Keep telling yourself that right now he is no threat, and therefore it's safe to enter his presence. Speaking of which..." the physician closed his box of materials and oils. "I must go back to him. I fear that young Prince is going to wear him all out." he bowed with his hands folded and smiled. "Perhaps, Your Majesty, a stroll in the gardens would be good, for clearing the mind. As for a little help to relax in the evening, my offer of... special treatment is still standing if..."

She cut him off by raising her hand to make him stop without looking at him. "Phineas, you know I would trust you with my life, but..." she cleared her throat. "But I don't think I'll ever, EVER get to that point!"

"As your Majesty wishes." he nodded and grabbed his box of remedies and instruments and turned around to leave. "It was only a suggestion."

"Don't be offended, but I fail completely to see how piercing my body full with needles would ever make me relax."

"As usual, prejudices rules the mind." he said and grabbed the handle of the door and nodded deeply. "Goodday, Your Majesty."

Arianna sighed and rose up to sitting position on the bed as she looked up after him. "Will you send Friedborg in for me?"

"Right away, Your Majesty." the Physician replied and bowed in his own way, with folded hands underneath the long sleeves of his robe and took a few steps back before rising towards the door.

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Outside, the King and Friedborg stood waiting for the Physician to come out. Or more correctly, Friedborg stood still, patiently and calm, her hands folded in front of her while her head followed her gaze watching Frederic walking back and forth in front of the door.

"Could it really be that bad? No, it couldn't... Or perhaps... "

Despite the King's stressful manners, the lady-in-waiting looked rather calm and unaffected, and as he looked at her, he realized how silly he had to appear, and stopped and straightened up. "I wish I could be as calm as you, dear Friedborg. My nerves are closing in to the breaking point. I don't know... I feel like everything I do is wrong."

Just then, the door went open, and both the King and the lady-in-waiting turned towards it as the physician stepped out.

"Well?" the King asked, forcing himself not to sound panicked.

But Phineas turned to the lady-in-waiting at first, smiling absentminded as he spoke to her. "You may go in now, Friedborg. Her Majesty is ready for her fitting."

Friedborg didn't reply, but walked past the physician towards the open door with slow steps, and Phineas closed it behind her.

"Well, what can you tell?" Fredric had to put a hold on himself not to grab the slender man and shake the results out of him. "Is it serious?"

At last, he turned around and faced the King with a slow bow. Then he rose his head and looked him in the eyes, smiling friendly as he spoke. "Nothing that cannot be cured. But would Your Majesty perhaps accompany me back to my quarters, while I explain some details?"

I bet some of you realized I was referring to acupuncture, which is counted as ancient traditional Chinese medicine. I may come back to this.